Baking is an enjoyable activity that you can do at your home. The happiness you gain through baking bread, cakes, and buns by yourself at home is another level of satisfaction. In this article, we will discuss the basics of bread baking, along with tips and techniques to make your baking journey enjoyable. If you haven’t ever tried baking bread at your home, this article will guide you to take your first step ahead.

The Basics Of Bread Baking

Before moving to the baking process, it is good to understand the basics of bread baking. The taste of the bread depends on the right ingredients and the right techniques you used for the process. There are some essential ingredients needed for bread making, such as flour, water, yeast and salt. You need to add these ingredients in the correct amounts to make your loaf tasty, fresh and fluffy. Also, make sure that all the ingredients that you use are of good quality. 

The overall bread-making process is simple, and all you need is a little bit of patience with good ingredients. It will take less than one hour to bake a loaf of bread if all the essentials are with you. Making the bread dough is a kind of art. You need to mix the ingredients in proper amounts and wait till the magic happens. 

Things To Consider

Choosing the Right Flour

All-purpose flour or whole wheat flour is recommended for bread making. But you can choose any kind of flour to make bread, according to your preferences. There are a number of different bread types, and they differ from each other based on the type of flour used to make them. For beginners, it is good to use all-purpose flour to bake your first loaf of bread. 

Selecting the Right Yeast

The yeast can be named the magician of the overall bread-baking process. Active dry, instant and fresh yeast plays an important role in bread dough making, allowing the mixture of flour, water and salt to rise over time. The fluffiness of the loaf of bread depends on the quality of yeast you use in. Make sure to add it in the right amount to grab the best use. 

Essential Baking Equipment 

Make sure that you have all the baking essentials with you before starting the process. You will need measuring cups to measure flour and water, measuring spoons to measure salt and yeast, a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon to mix the dough and a warp to cover the mixing bowl until it rises. For the baking process, you will need an oven and a baking tray. Make sure that all the equipment is clean and dry before starting the bread-making process.

Bread-making process

Once gathering all the essential ingredients and equipment, you can measure the right amounts of flour, yeast and salt in the mixing bowl. Add a little bit of water and mix them well using a wooden spoon. After some time, the flour, yeast and salt are well mixed with water and create a dough. Then you can sprinkle some flour onto a board and start kneading the dough. 

This kneading process should be done patiently, into a rhythm. It allows the yeast to mix properly with the air, and it boosts the magic of yeast. Once the dough is kneaded for nearly 5 minutes, you can cover the dough from a warp and let it rise for some time. 

After letting the dough rise for 10-15 minutes, you can knead it again for a few minutes and then move it to the baking tray. Make sure to apply butter or oil on the tray before moving the dough to the tray. During this process, you need to turn on your oven and set it to preheat. Let the dough rise for a few minutes in the baking tray. This is simply called proofing, and once the dough is proof enough in the tray, then put it in the preheated oven. When you allow the bread dough to rise two times, it will give you a tasty and light loaf of bread for sure. 

You can check if your bread is baking from the oven window. It will perfectly rise out from the baking tray and give a crusted brown color once the baking process is done. Then take the baking tray out of the oven carefully. Now, your homemade bread is ready for serving. 

Conclusion

Homemade bread tastes good just after taking it out of the oven. It perfectly matches together with a cup of tea. The hands-on experiences in baking will enhance the quality of your bread. So never underestimate yourself if you fail on your first attempt. Always try to use quality ingredients in the right amounts. Once you become a pro at baking simple bread at home, you can try out other different bread recipes with additional ingredients too. Embrace the joy and satisfaction of baking bread at home on your own and make your loved ones happy too.